Though this season didn’t go as we’d hoped, falling apart in hugely disappointing fashion in the last few weeks, there were some strong individual performers. And now (you won’t have guessed by the title of this piece, I’m sure) we’d like you to vote for your standout.
Jack Marriott has already won the club’s official award, but it’s far from a shoe-in that he’ll get ours too. In fact, our winner tends to be different, as you can see from this list.
To help you decide on this year’s winner, we’ve narrowed
it down to a shortlist of six players. We’ve also included the amount of minutes they managed overall, their average TTE rating and their total man of the match and player of the month wins.
Before that, a quick run-through of our player of the month awards across 2025/26:
- August: Derrick Williams
- September: Jack Marriott
- October: Charlie Savage
- November: Charlie Savage
- December: Joel Pereira
- January: Haydon Roberts
- February: Jack Marriott
- March: Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan
- Apri;/May: Daniel Kyerewaa
Or, if you’d like a look at how the entire squad got on in 2025/26, we’ve also collated our player ratings and cross referenced them against minutes played.
Anyway, back to our POTS award nominees. And without further ado…
Kamari Doyle
Minutes played (all comps): 3,042
Average rating: 5.8/10
MOTM awards: 2
POTM awards: 0
A hugely popular loanee, Doyle had a bright season at Reading as he continues his long-term development. The early-season switch from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 seemed designed to get more out of him specifically, and he ended the campaign with a very respectable four goals and seven assists in all competitions from the number 10 role.
More broadly, Doyle brought the kind of dynamism and creativity to this Reading side that few others have in recent years. He’s been fun to watch, scored some excellent goals (not least the equaliser at Burton Albion) and will undoubtedly have a good career.
Jack Marriott
Minutes played (all comps): 1,842
Average rating: 6.0/10
MOTM awards: 4
POTM awards: 2
Top scorer Marriott’s surely a favourite to follow up on the official club award by taking ours too. He came up with 17 goals in just 26 matches across all competitions – an outstanding strike rate, and his relative lack of game time due to a few injuries has been a frustration. How many would he have scored across a full campaign?
And these were hardly tap-ins: some of Marriott’s finishes were real contenders for goal of the season. His winner against Wycombe Wanderers, a beautiful effort across the ‘keeper, demonstrated hugely impressive technique. And his high average rating and healthy return of four MOTM awards and two POTM awards aren’t bad either.
Paudie O’Connor
Minutes played (all comps): 3,214
Average rating: 5.9/10
MOTM awards: 4
POTM awards: 0
If there’s anyone in the team I’d have down as Reading’s most underrated player, it’s O’Connor. Though not as quick or technically accomplished as the two centre-backs who preceded him last season, O’Connor’s been an imposing, consistent and commanding figure at the back.
He’s always a threat in the opposition’s box from set pieces and started to get more goal contributions in the second half of the season. Hopefully he can build on his return of three strikes in 2026/27.
Joel Pereira
Minutes played (all comps): 3,870
Average rating: 6.0/10
MOTM awards: 7
POTM awards: 1
This was another strong season for Pereira who outperformed his xGOT stats for the third year running. (xGOT – expected goals on target – is a good way of analysing shot-stopping as it factors in the trajectory of a shot once it’s been hit.)
As is typical with Pereira, he kept Reading in a fair number of games that otherwise could have got beyond us. No one can match his return of seven MOTM awards and a POTM award too.
Derrick Williams
Minutes played (all comps): 2,037
Average rating: 6.2/10
MOTM awards: 4
POTM awards: 1
Perhaps more of a left-field choice for POTS, but despite arriving to fairly low expectations, Williams had an impressive campaign at the back. That started off immediately, with ‘Dez’ getting our first POTM award of the season.
Since then he’s barely put a foot wrong. In his 24 appearances we only gave him lower than a 6/10 on four occasions (Peterborough United H, Bradford City A, Huddersfield Town A, Doncaster Rovers A – so generally when the whole team was underperforming) and he’s ended up with the best average rating of any regular first-team player.
Lewis Wing
Minutes played (all comps): 4,220
Average rating: 5.8/10
MOTM awards: 7
POTM awards: 0
Stats don’t say everything about a player, but Wing’s are hugely impressive. Only Marriott beat his goal return in all competitions (12), no one got that close to his assist haul (11) and he was head and shoulders above everyone else on availability too – the only squad member to surpass 4,000 minutes.
Even in a season when Wing was seemingly held back by negative tactics, he came up with the goods and was a vital cog in Reading’s midfield. And yes, of course, he netted some absolute screamers – my favourite being the late equaliser at home to Lincoln City.
Vote
As usual, we’re asking you not to pick just one player, but to rank all the candidates from 1-6. We’ll then collate the results by assigning points: six for a first-place vote, one for a sixth-place vote, and so on.
The poll should display on your device, but if it doesn’t, you can use this link right here.
